Posts Tagged ‘printing’

Sewing Style: Handprinted Leather Shift Dress

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This teal fabric was originally going to be a circle dress, but I passed it up for the pink and orange. I second-guessed my decision until the idea for this dress came along.

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However, the plain teal and patch leather pockets didn’t seem exciting enough. I’ve long wanted to do some serious block printing on a garment piece (like my printing idol), so I turned on some Project Runway and set to work.

And work it was! I had the blocks already carved, it was the printing that was hard to do. One of the stamps (mounted on MDF) rubbed my fingers so raw, I couldn’t feel my finger tips the next day. Next time I’m screwing on a make-shift handle to the block for easier to grip.

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The front and sleeves were printed in a cross-hatch pattern and the back was printed with a simple triangle pattern (previously used here). I like the mixture of both. It’s different.

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I used brown leather suede scraps scored from Michael Levine back in LA. It’s the softest, nicest suede I’ve ever felt, and because it’s garment weight, it doesn’t make the dress boxy or bulky at the hip.

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I see the flaws in my printing (so many little white blobs everywhere), but it creates a certain vibe.

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I’ve seen boxy fit dresses and tops go down the runway at NYFW lately, it makes me glad that I cut it a bit on the boxy side. It’s comfortable without, but I can go with the belt for a more structured look.

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This is my new g0-to dress. I think I’ll be making a few of these in the future.

Outfit details

  • earrings: H&M
  • necklace: c/o Tai Pan Trading
  • bracelets: handmade (1,2)
  • belt: handmade
  • dress: handmade
  • cardigan: c/o She Inside (here)
  • tights: H&M
  • shoes: thrifted

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On a related note, it snowed last week!! The first snow of the year had the biggest snow flakes I had ever seen. None of it stuck around for more than 24 hours, but it was quite the awakening that our carefree summer has ended. I still have a lot of weeding and yard prep to do before the real snow hits. And by real, it’s rumored that our neighborhood will get in the range of 10 feet this year. Chris and Penelope are beyond thrilled that they have their skis and gear all ready to rock and roll.

 

Uninspired Potato Prints

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I’ve got crafter’s block right now. Last week I was feeling all inspired to do creative things, but this week it’s like all that creativity & motivation went out the window. It might be because we’re getting ready to move into a place with enough room for me to have my own (non-dungeon) studio. I think I’m so busy fantasizing about that well-lit space, my creativity is all consumed.

I wanted to do something crafty today, even if it was little. I was looking back through my archives to see if I could get any inspiration that way & came across a tutorial I did a couple years ago on how to make limited edition prints by using a styrofoam plate. It’s a super easy & very fun process. I got all excited to make a greeting card or something, then realized there were no styrofoam plates in my house. There was, however, a 15lb bag of potatoes on our kitchen counter, so I snagged one & started carving with my Xacto.

Bunting & triangles have been sort of a thing on the interwebs & I admittedly love triangles. What a great shape! They’re even more fun when they’re irregular. So I made a series of triangles. Bunting, if you will. I thought it’d be cute to do a little bunting banner & then write a message on the dried triangles. Great idea if you have high-quality printing ink. The speedball ink I used for the potato print is chalky & not water-resistant. It was more than a little annoying to work with. Needless to say this is a very limited run print; a run of 1.

DHD Blog Hop + ANOTHER PRINTABLE

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Are you getting sick of my printables, yet? If you’re not, good. If you are, suck it up; I’ve got one coming your way today.

Today I’m participating in a DHD blog hop. YUP. SO FUN! The idea is that you start at the DHD blog and make the rounds to each designer’s blogs and pick up freebies along the way. By the time you’re done, you’ve got an entire kit of awesomeness on your hands. Pretty rad, right?

I know there are a lot of non-digital folk out there, so I thought I’d do something that everyone can use. A printable box. I hope you like it. The final dimensions come out to 2.25 x 2.25 x 2.25 inches. Click the button above to download.


Hop forward by clicking on the left, hop backward by clicking on the right.

Here’s a little preview of the artwork you can expect to get if you participate in the blog hop. Man, that’s a load of artwork! Isn’t the color scheme so fun? I love purple & green.

This printable is free for personal use. If you would like to use this printable commercially, please email me. Thanks!

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